Alaska gets stern warning from US Education Department over federal COVID relief for schools

from the U.S. Department of Education says that as a condition of receiving $359 million in federal COVID funding, Alaska is required to give $30 million to the highest-need schools in four districts.

In its March 27 letter, the U.S. Education Department listed amounts federal officials said were still owed to four Alaska school districts. That included $16.6 million for Anchorage School District; $9.7 million for Kenai Peninsula Borough School District; $3.1 million for Fairbanks North Star Borough School District; and just over $200,000 for Juneau School District.

“Alaska is the only state that has not met or presented a sufficient plan for meeting these requirements,” said Adam Schott, deputy assistant secretary at the federal Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, in theIf Alaska remains out of compliance with federal law, COVID funding may be recovered by the federal government. Federal school grant funding for Alaska may also be withheld, Schott said.Anchorage Democratic Sen.

Legislators have sought answers this year from the state Department of Education whether the extra school funding would need to be added to this year’s budget. Members of the bipartisan Senate majority said they were assured by state officials that the maintenance of equity issues would be resolved. Palmer Republican Rep. DeLena Johnson, who manages the House’s operating budget, told the finance committee on Thursday that the state Education Department advised legislators to withhold the extra funding from the budget — for now. An appeal over the $30-million figure was ongoing between the Alaska Department of Law and the federal government, she said.

“The Juneau School District only used revenue numbers they could depend on. This resulted in the closure of multiple school buildings and an overall reduction in force of 12% of our staff,” he said.A spokesperson for Anchorage School District said Tuesday that district officials understood the state was still in the process of appealing the federal requirements. The $16.6 million allocated to Anchorage may not be final nor is there a timeline for resolution, the spokesperson said.

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